Frost Patterns

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On one of the mornings I had an early Physical Therapy appointment, the temperature was in the teens and sunny. When I parked, I noticed the car parked next to me had frost on all its non-vertical surfaces. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures with my phone!

A little magnification made the variations in the crystals more visible. Some looked like feathers, others like brittle stars from the sea. In some places the crystals had become so dense that they became an aggregate. The sun was beginning to melt some of the crystals; I thought about why some areas were melting and others were not.

A few seconds of photography and I hurried into the building feeling grateful for the little bit of creative time – one of my favorite ways to start the day.

First Frost and a Comet

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The first frost at our house was on 10/16; the low was 29 degrees, but ice crystals only formed on part of our yard…and I went out shortly after sunrise to capture the event. Some of the crystals seemed to outline the leaves (and their holes) while other leaves seemed to be more thoroughly dusted. There were no crystals on taller plants.

The freezing temperature did not last long enough to wilt vegetation. The violets outside my window are still mostly green…with a few yellow leaves. The maples still have most of their leaves. Our area has not had much rain recently so we are anticipating that the fall color might not be as vibrant as usual.

On another outdoors note…we have been viewing Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas (A3) from our front sidewalk!

First Frost in Carrollton

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December was warmer than usual in Carrollton. There wasn’t a frost until the next to the last day of the month! I went out early to capture the sunrise…not particularly interesting but worth the effort since I realized there would be frost to photograph when there was enough light.

I went out about an hour and half later and found frost coating the ground cover in the garden. Some of the plants seem more frosted than others – the differences in textures and microclimates probably.

The 30+ year old rose bush had a bud that was not yet open. I realized that I should have cut it before the frost to bring inside. I cut it with the frost on it and took it to the assisted living group home for my parents later in the day….perhaps the last flower from the rose bush a cousin purchased for my grandmother’s 80th birthday so many years ago.

The sweet gum in a side yard (a hybrid that does not produce spiky seeds) is finally red. My parents planted the tree several years ago when it became apparent that the mulberry trees that were almost the vintage of the house were not going to survive much longer. I’m glad they enjoyed the young tree for several years before they moved.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 6, 2024

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

How Britain's taste for tea may have been a life saver - The explosion of tea as an everyman's drink in late 1700s England saved many lives - the simple practice of boiling water for tea, in an era before people understood that illness could be caused by water-borne pathogens, may have been enough to keep many from an early grave. Sometimes people's existing behaviors can make more of a difference to their health than an explicit intervention might.

Carbon-Based Paleolithic Paintings Found in France - The carbon-based drawings were detected with visible light and infrared photography, X-ray fluorescence, and spectroscopy underneath previously known images. The discovery could allow for precise radiocarbon dating of the artwork. Most of the Paleolithic paintings in the more than 200 caves in the region were made with iron and manganese oxides, which cannot be directly dated with radiocarbon dating technologies.

Winners of the 2023 International Landscape Photographer of the Year Contest – Wonderful views. I wish more of them were annotated (where they were taken…comments from the photographer, etc.). One of my favorites was the Winner for Snow and Ice by Thomas Vijayan of Canada.

Which zoo animals are most active in winter and what times are best to see them? – Author commenting about zoos in the UK…but most of the comments are relevant to zoos in the US too. I particularly enjoyed the last recommendation – going to the Reptile House to warm up! My daughter gave us a membership to the local zoo for Christmas…and we’ll probably bundle up and go soon (but not while the weather is in the 20s)!

Photos of the Week – December 24, 2023 from the Prairie Ecologist – Great reminders that there are interesting subjects for nature photography in winter.

103-Year-Old Artificial Christmas Tree Sells for Over $4,000 – A sliver of history: The tree originally belonged to Dorothy Grant, whose family purchased it for their Leicestershire, England, home in 1920. When she first saw it, the 8-year-old girl was “wildly excited.” She decorated its branches with cotton wool that resembled snow, as baubles were an “extravagance” at the time. Grant cherished the tree for the rest of her life. When she died at the age of 101 in 2014, her 84-year-old daughter, Shirley Hall, inherited it. She decided to part with it to honor her mother’s memory and to ensure it survives as a humble reminder of 1920s life—a boom-to-bust decade.

Photography In the National Parks: 2023 In Review – Rebecca Lawson’s favorite shots from 2023 from Yellowstone, Glacier, Mount Rainer, Lake Chelan, Yosemite, Death Valley, and Banff National Parks.

Honeycrisp, Cosmic Crisp usher in banner year for U.S. apples - Growers report that apple production in the United States hit levels in 2023 that had not been seen since the 2014-15 season. Washington State was the largest grower, producing some 90% of the nation's crop. Of all the varieties, Honeycrisp, Gala, Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Fuji make up 76% of the total apple holdings. The big winner this year was the Cosmic Crisp apple, which experienced a 41% year-over-year growth, with 9.5 million bushels harvested.

Millions of mysterious pits in the ocean decoded - Most of the depressions in the seafloor in the German Bight are created by porpoises and other animals in search of food, and then scoured out by bottom currents. The researchers showed that the marine mammals leave pits in the seafloor when they hunt for buried sand eels.

2023 was a year of big anniversaries – 20 years ago the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas…the Concorde made its final flight, 30 years ago the World Wide Web launched into the public domain, 50 years ago hip-hop began, 60 years ago March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (“I have a dream” speech)…JFK assassinated, 75 years ago Israel declared independence, 80 years ago Casablanca opened, 150 years ago blue jeans patented.

Ten Little Celebrations – March 2023

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March has been a bit different than I expected…a lot more very cold starts to the days which have made it harder for the spring bulbs I planted last fall. Still – there was plenty to celebrate.

Clean car. The dust (and maybe salt) is rinsed off the car. I celebrated the days of driving a clean car…until I drove around the gravel road that is the wildlife loop at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge! The door and hatch seals keep the dust from getting into the car but the spaces before the seals are covered and the car wash does not reach it!

Banana bread (that included the peels). I will never make banana bread without the peels again. Yes – organic bananas are a bit more expensive…but the bread is so good….well worth it.

Plans for our back yard. So many ideas…and enough time to make them happen! The evidence of the work I did last fall (planting bulbs) is giving me confidence that I can do more. Maybe I’ll even become a gardener.

Frosty forsythia. The cold mornings were problematic for some of early blooming flowers, bushes, and trees. I celebrated that I captured the beauty of frost on the forsythia flowers.

Pumpkin soup. I was surprised that I had more than 4 cans of pumpkin in my pantry….not sure how it happened. I opted to make soup with one of them. Tastey…colorful…a celebration with winter fare on a cold March day.

Staying standard time for sleep. I like for the sun to be coming up when I go down to my office and didn’t like the beginning of daylight savings time because it was suddenly dark again at that time….so this year I opted to not change my sleep schedule from standard time. I celebrate the light every morning with my first cup of tea.

Walking around the neighborhood ponds 2 days in a row. It seems like the month has had a lot of cold or wet days, so I celebrated when there were 2 warmer sunny days to make pleasant walks around our neighborhood ponds.

Two mockingbirds. This time of year, I look for pairs of birds around where I live. This year, I celebrated two mockingbirds close to my house. I hope they nest somewhere nearby. Last year we had a blue jay nest in one of our front yard red maples and barn swallows nested under our deck. There must be nests of mourning doves and finches nesting nearby too because we have so many of them.

New low weight for the year. Celebrating another month of taking off some weight. This needs to continue for as long as it takes to reach my goal (and then some to sustain it)!

Birdsong in the morning. The birds chorus in the morning and I celebrate the start of the day with them. I try to identify the birds I am hearing…a lot of robins usually but others join too.

Frosty Forsythia

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There was frost on our grass one morning in the areas further from the house…transient since the temperature was warming fast as the sun burned off the fog. I noticed that the forsythia in the corner of the yard has a few blooms and enjoyed the close examination of the flowers – somewhat damaged by the frost. The frost had developed along the edges of the petals and was already looking more like water droplets. On the buds, the ice looked like sugar or salt crystals. I’ll cut some branches from the bush to bring inside when blooms more fully.

There were other plants with melting frost…small plants close to the ground and pine needles backlit by the sun still somewhat shrouded by fog.

The rose bush in winter has plenty of shapes and textures…some red color caught my attention. It’s the remains of a leaf and flower but the shape reminded me of a Phoenix rising…flying away.

It was a good morning for a photo shoot in my back yard.

Ten Little Celebrations – February 2023

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A lot to celebrate this second month of 2023….here are my top 10 little celebrations:

A new low weight for the year. This happened several mornings of the month….and I celebrated each time since it was an indicator that my careful work to maximize nutritional value of more limited calorie intake was working.

Barbecue lunch at homecoming. My husband suggested that he get barbecue take out to have when I arrived home from my road trip from Carrollton. It is always a celebration to return home but the barbecue made it more festive.

Finding black bean chips. I have assumed that I wouldn’t be able to find my husband’s favorite chips (because they don’t cause blood sugar issues) when we moved to Missouri…so I celebrated when I found them again….a different brand but they taste the same. We are both enjoying them as our chip-or-choice.

Finding snack sized edamame pod packages. These have become my favorite high protein snack. I’ve enjoyed them before…but celebrated when I found them in smaller packages.

Spaghetti sauce soup. It’s a great way to use leftovers…or have a quick meal. I use a jar of spaghetti sauce, frozen sausage (cubed) or leftover baked chicken (any meat that is already cooked and seasoned) and lots of veggies. So easy…and so good. Worth celebrating.

Frost pictures (columns and ferns). I always celebrate frost days…particularly if the crystals are a type I haven’t photographed before!

Ice and algae on our neighborhood ponds. Winter field trips on 2 days not far from my own back yard! I celebrated getting outdoors for a short walk…not having to get in the car. My favorite sight were the neuron type shapes in the ice/snow of the pond.

Table Rock Lake. Celebrating a little field trip close to where we live in Missouri.

Birds at Josey Ranch. There always seem to be birds around at Josey Ranch…and this year I am visiting every month when I am Carrollton…celebrating the changes with the seasons.

Elm Fork Nature Preserve. A new-to-me natural area near Carrollton, TX. I celebrated the birds and forest there. I’ll be posted about the experience later this week.

Frost Columns and Ferns

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There was frosty morning last weekend at our house, and I photographed the crystals about 30 minutes after sunrise…in a hurry because the temperature was 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and I hadn’t put on my coat! There was frost on the lamb’s ear and an old leaf that looked like crystals of sugar.

\I was more interested in finding more complex crystals. Our wrought iron table had frost all around the outer edge.

The first ones I saw were columns…sometimes in clumps…emanating from films of ice (that might have started out as water).

I was surprised to find very different crystals on the other side of the table! They were a lot like the frost ferns I posted about back in January. They were not quite as large, and they grew out of a thin film of ice rather than as ‘fronds’ around a common center as they had in January.

I wondered what caused the crystals to be different on opposite sides of the table. In the past, I found column type crystals when the temperature was closer to 30…the ‘ferns’ when it was 20 or below. The columns were on the side of the table closer to the hollies and some cedars; the ‘ferns’ were on the side next to the posts supporting the deck stairs. Could the vegetation be creating a slightly warmer temperature? Maybe next time – I’ll take a thermometer out to test that idea!

All photos were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S10e (most are at 8x magnification).

Frosty Valentine’s

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Valentine’s Day is a very commercialized celebration --- lots of red roses, chocolate and other candy often in red heart shaped boxes or the candy itself in the heart shape. If my husband and I do anything for Valentine’s – we do it on our monthly wedding anniversary which is within a few days of the 14th. This year it will be our 601st monthly anniversary!

One positive outcome of the commercialization of the celebration, I am anticipating lots of candy on sale on the 15th….hoping for a good selection to buy at a reduced price for my daughter and son-in-law to have in their campus offices for their meetings with students!

Another positive aspect to Valentine’s is its position in February. The winter can be gray, cold, and icy. Maybe Valentine’s Day should be a prompt to look around for beauty in the ‘wild’ to share with someone near and dear: a sunrise or the beauty of ice crystals at close range….choose to see beauty in February outdoors (or through a window)!

Carrollton Frosts – January 2023

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There were two frosts in late January when I was in Carrollton. The first day started out at 30 degrees and 96% humidity. I made the first round of pictures around the yard of my parents’ house not long after sunrise.

Frost covered the upper surfaces of everything.

The seed pods of the red yucca are my favorite images – coated with frost that highlights the ridges and folds of the pods.

I went inside for about an hour then photographed more plants and objects. The crystals on a tiled counter near the gas grill were the largest (mostly columns).

On another morning, the temperature was 34 degrees and the humidity was not as high…but frost formed anyway. I wondered if the oxalis would be able to withstand the two days of frost. The tiled counter was encrusted with crystals again.

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2023

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January is usually the calm after the flurry of holidays and other big celebrations in November and December. Still - there are plenty of little celebrations to choose from; these are the top 10 for January 2023.

50th wedding anniversary. My husband and I celebrated our 50th anniversary….a delivered lunch with our daughter. Our anniversary celebrations have always been relatively low key; this year I thought more about my parents’ 70th anniversary back in December…savoring enduring relationships with my family.

A new low weight for the year. I put on some weight in November and December. I put myself on a “healthy food” diet (logging my food into the Cronometer app) and celebrated that it worked…slowly but surely taking off pounds!

Lake Springfield. A winter meadow…and black vultures. Celebrating being outdoors in winter.

Another frost data point. I celebrated getting a second frosty morning to add to my project…noting temperature and humidit and photographing the crystals.

Hurray – bone density results still in the ‘normal’ range. Every time I get new bone density check, I am always a little anxious. I am leery of medications to treat bone density issues so I’m glad my preventative exercise - calcium – magnesium – Vitamin D regime seems to be maintaining my bones.

A sunny day in Carrollton (and seeing a downy woodpecker). After clouds and rain, a sunny day is always welcome and seeing a small woodpecker getting breakfast in a tree near a window adds to the celebration.

Coursera anatomy course. Starting a new course…celebrating filling in gaps in what I already know. Its always fun to slip back into the student role.

Pumpkin custard with peanut powder. I celebrated the success of my culinary experiment of the month: adding a cup of peanut powder to pumpkin custard (and rounding up on the spices). Yummy…and high in protein.

Snow (pictures) from Nixa/Springfield. I celebrated the event while I was in Texas.

Frosty morning in Carrollton. I added 2 frost events into my project while I was in Texas…celebrated that the conditions were cold enough…humidity high enough too.

Frost Ferns

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18 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity at 98% in the sunshine shortly after sunrise. Those were the conditions shortly after sunrise a few days after we got some snow. I went outside on the patio for some macro photography.

My first stop was where there was some residual snow (and maybe some fresh frost) on the deck stair railing. There has been too much freeze thaw…maybe a little interesting, but not worth standing out in the cold to fully capture.

I looked around for another surface where frost crystals might have formed…took a closer look at the wrought iron table and charts. There were small crystals around the edge of the table! I set my phone (Samsung Galaxy S10e) magnification to 8x and walked around the table. Most of the crystals looked like ferns to me! I am going to check the table rim on upcoming cold mornings…and document how the forms of frost change with temperature and humidity. Enjoy the sideshow below to see the results of 18 degrees and 98% humidity!

Carrollton Yard – December 2022

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A few days after Christmas – a cold morning in Carrollton TX.

I ventured out a little after sunrise – when the clouds were still tinged with orange.

The oxalis edging the pavers that had all been green when I arrived a few days before Christmas had transformed to a layer of frozen, deteriorating leaves protecting a green layer underneath.

Even the kale was different after the very cold temperatures – oddly looking more like a light-colored flower with green leaves below.

As few minutes in the cold…the sky had brightened…I took one last picture and went indoors.

Ten Little Celebrations – November 2022

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Ten little celebrations for November. Some of them weren’t so little: a 91st birthday, a grandnephew, and Thanksgiving. There was a lot of food involved too. Celebrating November foods is probably my favorite lead up to the crescendo in December and then the beginning of a new year.

A mini-pumpkin – perfect for 4 servings. My sister bought small pumpkins for a table centerpiece; we decided to cook one of them for lunch along with meatloaf. The oven was nicely full. I pricked the skin of the pumpkin before I put it in the oven since I was cooking it intact. After about an hour, I took it out of the oven, lifted the stem off, cut it into quarters, and took the seeds out from the center. Everyone sprinkled cinnamon and added butter to melt into the pulp. All that was left at the end of the meal was the skin! Yummy!

Cranberries. I like cranberries in just about everything: stir fry, sauces for meatballs (combined with tomatillo salsa), chopping as an addition to stuffing, sauteed with apples + butter + cinnamon + honey for dessert. I used to make cranberry relish on the stovetop because I enjoyed watching the cranberries pop as they cooked, but I don’t like the relish as much anymore (too sweet) so now I enjoy cranberries pooping in stir fry or when they are sauteed. I celebrate both their flavor and their color!

Getting 141 bulbs planted. It took multiple sessions in the yard…and I celebrated when they were all finally in the ground. I hope most of them survive the squirrels and bloom next spring!

Leaves – raked, blown, shredded. Mowing is adequate for the leaves at our house but not my daughter’s. She has very large trees and the leaves were thick enough to kill grass. She and I spent an afternoon focused on leaves…and celebrated our accomplishment! The weather cool and crisp for a traditional fall activity …. always helps get me in the mood for the beginning of the holiday season.

A 91st birthday. Both of my parents are 91 years old as of November. Our family celebrates these milestones…enjoying that we still have them with us.

A grandnephew. Celebrating a baby in our family…the 1st one in over 20 years…adds a another facet to our joy during the holidays.

Walnuts. Not sure why…but walnuts have become a favorite this year. I am celebrating all the ways I’ve found to add them into food I am preparing!

Ritter Springs and Neighborhood Ponds. Celebrating the crisp air outdoors…the color of leaves…the frost on the grass.

Thanksgiving. Celebrating a day to appreciate all the recent events of our lives…a prelude to the family events/gatherings of December.

Leftovers. It’s a treat to have great food in short order… prolongs the celebration. I ate too much on Thanksgiving…did better on the subsequent days and maybe enjoyed the food more.

Springfield Conservation Nature Center

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A few days after the first hard frosts of the year in Springfield MO, we took a short hike on the Springfield Conservation Nature Center trails. The morning was cool and sunny – a near perfect fall day to be outdoors. The forest was full of color. One surprise: there seemed to be more green leaves on the ground than usual; perhaps the trees were caught by the frost before they could change color.

We spotted a young turtle sunning on a log…warming up.

A larger turtle climbed up on the same log. It went back in the water rather than joining the smaller one.

There were ducks preening/snoozing on a log in the water. Their legs and webbed feet looked very bright in the morning sun.

I couldn’t resist some macro images of late flowers…a few insects…even at caterpillar!

Our last ‘find’ of the morning was in the parking lot as we were getting ready to leave: a praying mantis making its way across the asphalt!

A morning well spent….

Our House – Touch up of Interior Painting

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The work to get our house ready to sell has begun. Last week, the painters arrived to touch up the interior painting. Prior to their arrival my husband and I had prepped the rooms they would be working in: cleared off surfaces, removed table/floor lamps, and removed smaller furniture. A recent donation and trip to the landfill had removed the old desk chairs…made for fewer pieces of small furniture to move out of the way.

In the calm before the painters were due, I noticed there was frost on the deck. I was surprised since the temperature was right at 32 degrees. I went out with my phone and macro lens. The ice crystals were melting…but were still interesting. I wondered what started the crystallization swirl seen at two magnifications in the last 2 pictures below.

The painters did as much as they could the first day….left equipment in one room and part of the plastic draping up. The job was complete after a second day of work!

One task down….more to come. The next one may be the touch up of the exterior paint; it will depend on warmer temperatures for a few days which could happen this week…or not.

Ten Little Celebrations – February 2022

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The little things that brightened the February days…..

Rose bud in the kitchen window. I was happy that the small plant I bought for Valentines has a new bud opening before the end of the month…celebrating some color in winter.

New battery installed in my laptop. The flurry of activity to fix a problem…what a relief (and celebration) when it was done!

Winter Hike. A celebration of the outdoors in winter…and a return to a pre-pandemic activity.

Deciding to move and getting started. We are off to a relatively slow start…but it’s an exciting prospect…celebrating the decision!

Finding my husband’s favorite sausage again. Our grocery store did not have many empty places…but the sausage was one of them. Now it seems that the problem has been at least partially resolved and we are celebrating finding it again.

A sunny day from my office window (very cold outside). Celebrating winter from inside a warm house!

Frost patterns – feathers, flowers, flakes. The frost patterns have been my ‘project’ this February and I’ve celebrated the variety of the crystals that form.

Leftovers. I celebrate great meals that are easy – leftovers! All the more complex dishes I cook these days are good for more than one meal!

A warmer day. When we have a lot days in the teens and 20s….I celebrate a day in the 50s and 60s!

Finding Wick Fowler chili mix at a local grocery. For a while over the past few years, we couldn’t find our favorite chili seasonings in our grocery store - so we started ordering it and having it shipped to us. After a mix up in a recent order, we looked again at the grocery store, and they had it! Celebrating finding it locally!

Unique Aspects of Days – February 2022

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Snow on turkey tails. I always look for turkey tails/shelf fungus when I am hiking…and enjoy photographing them. This month was my first time to photograph them with snow!

Finding some new office tools – Microsoft PowerToys. My office environment is well established so it is very unusual for me to look for new tools and unique for me to find more than one new tool that makes what I do easier. Microsoft PowerTools was a great find. The tools I am using frequently now are Image resize and Power rename.

Miniature potted rose for Valentines. I was thinking of potted tulips or hyacinths when I went shopping (not realizing that it was too early for both of them)…but found a miniature rose instead. It’s a unique purchase and my husband and I are enjoying it in our kitchen window. It already has a new bud opening. I’ll plant it outside after the last frost.

Frost crystals. I have been thrilled to discover how many kinds of frost crystals there are. At some point they will become familiar to me, but February 2022 is my first concentrated effort to look at them frequently enough to see the variations!

People smoking in the grocery store parking garage. Not all unique experiences are positive. As I came out of the grocery store one morning, there were two separate people standing near their cars smoking and working on the phones. They were on the side of the garage closest to the store – maybe using the store’s Wi-Fi or maybe they were waiting for someone that was shopping. I could smell the smoke from one of them as I walked to my car and loaded my groceries even though I was still wearing my mask! It reminded me of years ago when people smoked around the entrances to office buildings, but isn’t something I’ve experienced in recent years…and it hasn’t happen on subsequent shopping trips. I glad it was a unique experience for 2022 (so far).

Two Frosts

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I watched the forecast for some cold morning temperatures and put a red glass plate out on the deck the night before the temperature for the next morning was forecast for 23 degrees. The idea was to get some frost accumulation on the glass for some macro photography. It worked - even thought the crystals were relatively small. One of my first attempts was an almost round structure…at two different magnifications.

Then I surveyed the rest of the plate and noticed crystals like feathers, spikes that branched off in all directions, other round collections of crystals that looked like a splash or explosion.

I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the crystals on the deck railing. They were small; the pictures below are with my macro lens and then with my phone digitally magnifying that 8x!

The next morning was even colder – 17 degrees. At first, I thought there was no frost at all on the plate but when I looks more closely there were some very small areas of crystals. I immediately thought the crystals looked like small organisms in water (rather than ice crystals).

Then I spotted one that looked like a butterfly on a flower with its wings folded. The mind jumps to ‘looks like’ type thinking!

A little less magnification and the sheets of ice with spikes (I imaged cactus) are interspersed with the smaller organism-looking structures.

The temperature and dew point probably make a big different in the type of frost crystals that form. Photographing them has become my favorite February project! So far – each day has been unique.